TRIANA MISSION SELECTED

After a rigorous peer-review evaluation of nine competing
proposals, NASA has selected a proposal from the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA, to implement the
Triana mission with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
MD.

Named for the sailor on Columbus' voyage who first saw the
New World, Triana is a satellite mission to L1 (the Lagrange
libration, or neutral gravity point between the Earth and the
Sun). From L1, Triana will have a continuous, full disk, sunlit
view of the Earth. The mission will provide this view of the
Earth for distribution over the Internet at the beginning of the
new millennium.

Dr. Francisco P.J. Valero of the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, a part of the University of California at San Diego,
has been selected the Principal Investigator to lead development
of the Triana mission. Dr. Valero's mission concept includes two
scientific instruments: the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera
(EPIC), to be built by Lockheed-Martin Advanced Technology Center
of Palo Alto, CA, and an advanced radiometer, from a source to be
selected later this fall. Triana also will include a small, next-
generation space weather monitoring instrument to contribute to
our understanding of how solar events affect Earth-orbiting
spacecraft, such as communications satellites.

"An advanced radiometer at L1 will provide, by looking at the
whole sunlit side of the Earth at once, the first direct
measurements of the radiant power reflected by the planet, and
thereby contribute to our knowledge of how much of the Sun's
energy is absorbed in the Earth's atmosphere," said Dr. Valero.
"The EPIC instrument will observe the Earth's vegetation canopy
structure and evolution by taking advantage of the retro-
reflectance, or 'hot spot,' view that will be available by being
in-line between the Earth and the Sun. The EPIC also will observe
clouds and aerosols."

"The L1 vantage point, with its full-disk view of the Earth,
offers unique scientific advantages," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar,
NASA's Associate Administrator for Earth Science. "The full-disk
view of the Earth enables retrieval of global quantities at once,
whereas measurements from low Earth orbit or geostationary Earth
orbit must be 'stitched' together, requiring concerted efforts to
'process out' differences due to viewing times and revisit
intervals.

"L1 will be a prime vantage point for the next generation of
Earth remote-sensing instruments. Triana will serve as a
pathfinder for those future missions, providing scientific and
operating experience in the L1 environment," said Asrar.

The Triana mission also will invite participation from the
educational community. "We hope and expect to have widespread
participation by students in every phase of this inspirational
project. Students will benefit from 'hands-on' participation in
Triana via the Internet and NASA's educational outreach efforts,"
Asrar said. NASA plans to solicit proposals for educational
applications of Triana data next year.

Commercial participation also is possible for the Triana
mission. Commercial enterprises have expressed an interest in
contributing financially to Triana development in exchange for
commercial rights to data. NASA will consider commercial
partnerships for the Triana mission over the coming months.

NASA plans to proceed expeditiously on mission development.
Goddard will provide a Small Explorer-lite spacecraft and ground
system for Triana, as well as program integration and management
support. Triana is a $75 million mission to be launched by
December 2000 from the Space Shuttle cargo bay. Triana will be
the latest in the Earth Probe series of missions in NASA's Earth
Science enterprise, which seeks to understand the total Earth
system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the
global environment.